Dakota CPA Connection Produced by the North Dakota CPA Society
July 2026 | Volume XXXIX| No. 04
Selected Provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill of Relevance to Agriculture
Continued on page 13
By Roger McEowen
Signed into law on July 4, 2025, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), or H.R. 1, represents a massive restructuring of federal agricultural support, nutrition programs, tax code rules, and land conservation. Following its passage, federal agencies have systematically deployed implementing guidelines, culminating in major regulatory shifts. Together, these measures reshape how the farm safety net, food assistance programs, and business taxes operate.
crop year, which compounds reference prices by 0.5% annually. Additionally, producers are permitted to absorb up to 30 million new base acres voluntarily. Dairy producers see a Tier I coverage expansion under the Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) program from 5 million to 6 million pounds per farm, paired with mandatory biennial cost surveys of dairy processors to maintain transparent pricing formulas.
1. Re-Engineering the Farm Safety Net (Commodities and Subsidies)
While safety net price points have grown, the structural distribution of federal subsidies has changed. Effective June 2, 2026, the USDA Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) finalized 7 CFR Part 1400 to execute the payment limitation adjustments written into the OBBBA.
The OBBBA injects an estimated $56.6 billion into agricultural programs over a ten-year window, with $52.3 billion targeted directly at reinforcing the farm safety net. A fundamental mechanism is the expansion and lengthening of the Price Loss Coverage (PLC) and Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) programs through the 2031 crop year. To offset volatile inflation and rising production costs, the legislation lifts statutory commodity reference prices by 10% to 21% and introduces an automatic “escalator” mechanism beginning in the 2031
In This Issue • 2 President’s Message • 3 Management Wrap Up July 2026 | Page 1
is multiplied by the number of individual owners or distinct entities comprising the QPTE. For example, an LLC owned by two distinct partners can qualify for up to $310,000 (and an “embedded” chain of partnerships can multiply this further to $620,000), provided all participants meet recordkeeping mandates.
2. Overhauling Payment Limits: The USDA Final Rule
The biggest operational shift targets Qualified Pass-Through Entities (QPTEs) - such as partnerships, S corporations, and limited liability companies (LLCs) not taxed as C corporations. Previously, corporate entities like S corporations were capped at a single payment limit regardless of internal scale. Under the new guidelines, the base $155,000 program-year limitation for ARC and PLC
• 3 Member News • 4 Directors Message • 5 Meet our Members
• 5 Classifieds • 6 Annual Ballot • 6 Volunteers Needed
• 7 Annual Convention • 11 New Exam Passers • 11 New Members
on page 5 • 13Continued Ethics Corner • 15 Tax Commissioner